


It happened one night.

by evilleaper



Series: Dark Shadows over Time [6]
Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:11:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6856030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilleaper/pseuds/evilleaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Al make use of the bath in their house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It happened one night.

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Sam Beckett, Al Calavicci and all things Quantum Leap belong to Donald P Bellisario and 'Universal' anything else eg.; the words here in and the idea for this piece of fan fiction belong solely to me. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
>  **Warnings:** This story is rated R for M/M interaction (sex) and deals with the issue of masochism. If you think you may be offended then you should turn back now.
> 
>  **Authors notes:** This is part six of the Dark Shadows over Time series and take place straight after “In the heat of the Night”. It was originally written out of order, as in I wrote it prior to "In the heat of Night". I should also tell you that this story was written for Carol, who betaed many of my early QL stories and who was a huge support during that time. It’s not new, just new to AO3 and contains Australian spelling.
> 
>  **Thanks:** To PJ for betaing this piece and for generally making it so much easier on the eyes than it was to begin with.

With the few necessary preparations now made I carefully survey the scene I have set, searching for some small detail that may have been missed, mentally checking the subdued lighting, the oil and incense I have lit to create what I can of a mood. Satisfied there are none, that nothing has been overlooked I then slowly shed the small amount of propriety that I have held on to while I have made my arrangements by slipping out of my robe, simply letting it fall from my shoulders to settle at my feet. 

Naked, I step away from the fallen fabric, leaving it in the middle of the bathroom floor as I cross the small distance to the tub I have filled earlier, tentatively testing the temperature of the water before I step over the side. 

The water in the tub is hot, but it needs to be I remind myself as I slowly sink into its clear depths, luxuriating in the oiled heat that surrounds me. Hot enough to last the duration, to help provide the required stimulation my thoughts echo as I take my place against one end of the tub, stretching my legs out and managing almost to make contact with the opposite one when I have. 

I sigh, leaning back, relaxing slowly as I position my arms on either sides of the tub, letting my head loll ever so slightly to rest on my shoulder as I give into the calming effects of the hot water and the flicker of candle light. My thoughts drift as I watch the doorway for my lover. He will come when he is ready, when my part is deemed necessary to complete this ritual of his.

This is what we have agreed on. The setting had been my idea, though the need for it had been unequivocally Al's. So much of his fear had revolved around being taken this way that we have never been able to close the division it has caused between us. But we needed to, now more than ever and if we were to truly erase the past, then we I had argued, had to start at the beginning. That meant meeting one another half way. For me, my limits were simple. Whatever Al desired he could ask for, but I could not, under any circumstances, strike him or inflict an injury that would not heal unaided. Al's limits on the other hand were more complicated and less discussed than my own. There was still so much about this need, that he kept hidden from me and in honesty I could not pretend to understand all of what he did share with me. It didn't matter, I had decided. What mattered was that being bound by the heart meant that when the occasion arose, I would be the one to quench the thirst that drove him to seek his release this way, and no one else. 

The gravity of such a commitment is not something I ponder often, simply I have come to accept it as part and parcel of sharing my life with the man who would always be the better half of my soul. But no sooner does the significance of that particular thought settle around me Al appears in the doorway, his presence halting all others as I take in the sight of him. 

Dressed in a robe similar to the one I have discarded his arms are folded protectively against his chest as he shifts nervously on bare feet. His dark eyes questioning me when our gazes meet. He is uncertain even now, I think as I watch him linger. After everything we have shared he is still so unsure of my willingness to accept this as part of our lives. And that, I know, if nothing else, needs to change. 

"Join me," I say, beckoning him forward.

Answering the loosely given command Al responds immediately, closing the distance between us in the briefest of moments as he seats himself beside me on the edge of the tub, taking my proffered hand in both of his own. He won't meet my eyes now, but bends to press his lips to the gold band encircling one of my captive fingers. "Are you sure about this?" he whispers.

"I've never been surer of anything in my life," I return, sitting up a little and using my free hand to stroke his bowed head. "If this is what you want, then I'm here, ready and waiting. All you have to do is tell me how."

Al's head remains bowed as he considers my words. His eyes squeezed shut as the moments drag on. My hand eventually leaving the thinning locks of dark hair to travel downward, encountering in its journey the tightly strung muscles on his shoulder and back. The tell-tale signs of tension needing release and of passions yet to be shared my mind demands.

"Al," I whisper, my hand dropping lower, seeking access to the robe he is wearing. The thought of exactly how that release will be found coupled with the familiar scent of masculine arousal steeling my breath away, reminding me that while I was filling the bath tub and lighting candles Al was making preparations of his own. I want to touch him, to begin what I have promised and I waste no time telling him so. "Take this off," I urge; tugging at the restricting cloth. "I want to see you."

There is very little delay before Al's head comes up and he releases my hand, and then only the slightest hesitation before he straightens his posture enough to untie the belt of his robe, letting it fall open when he does. His eyes drifting up to meet my own, speaking of things I know neither of us will ever say aloud. What he does say however is that he loves me, words that remove any doubt that what we are about to do is any less important than any other way we have made love in the past. It’s not quite a revelation but enough of a reminder to tread carefully, to make sure nothing is left unclear between us.

I reach for him as he continues to hold my gaze, running my fingertips over the exposed skin of his thighs, drawing them apart and moving the fabric out of the way to both see and feel the fresh welts I know that are there. Obviously relishing the attention and as if to aid my exploration Al slowly eases the robe from his shoulders, gathering terry cloth around his waist to give me better access, hissing between clenched teeth as I follow the heated path to the turgid flesh standing proudly between his legs. I linger there, not quite touching the hot length brushing the backs of my fingers, just enjoying the ability to do so. Al's face is a study in concentration the whole time, already creased from age and worry his brow is deeply furrowed and barely I think, hiding the torrent of emotions awaiting their release just below the surface of his control. 

My touch is too light and I move my hand away, knowing as I do that it is not what he wants. Exactly what that is, I am still to be told. But nothing, I realise, will be discovered if I don't make my needs known also. I reach for him again, first to briefly smooth the area between his eyes and then to run my hand around the back of his neck to draw him downward, holding his forehead against my own as I repeat my original question. "Tell me how you want this?"

I both hear and feel Al's attempt to answer me. A small sound at first, emanating from his chest and then the warmth of his breath on my face as whatever he was trying to tell me stalls on his lips. I wait for him to try again, inhaling as I do the distinctive scent of his body, understanding that for both our sakes it must be he who decides what is to happen here.

"Please," I hear myself beg when the thought of waiting another moment longer seems too much to ask. "Tell me what to do. I need to know." My hands are moving of their own accord then to frame his face and to bring his lips to mine. Sealing our mouths together I vaguely register the sound of Al whimpering against me; almost painful moans of need accompanying each nip of my teeth and stroke of my tongue. 

"Everything." He says, when I pull back to lick the moisture from his swollen lips, his eyes closed against any judgment he thinks I might make. "I want it all, Sam. For you to take everything until there is nothing left. Only what you leave me."

It’s shocking to hear Al say such things; to share such an unguarded moment with the man who had been my friend much longer than he has my lover. But perhaps not as shocking as my reactions to them I think absently, my mind and body awash with emotion and a growing need of my own. I would in all honesty give Al the moon and the stars if he should ask for them and if it were possible to do so, I would give him back every moment he had lost while he was a prisoner of war. But I know no matter how much I may want to completely erase all memory of what has brought us to share this moment I can only promise to try. 

"Get in the tub," I manage with more confidence than I had expected to have. 

I am mindful to aid Al's rise when he opens his eyes and responds just as quickly to this request as he has the others, stripping himself of the robe that is still wrapped around his waist and dropping it haphazardly on the bathroom floor. I appraise him briefly as he pauses, my eyes taking in the full extent of his lone ministrations. Not appalled, as I once was, only a little sad for its continuing necessity. 

Al moves once my scrutiny reaches his beloved face and our eyes meet once more. He returns my nod for him to continue before he turns his back and steps over the side of the tub. I draw my already splayed legs back to accommodate him, making as much room as possible and ready if need be to guide his descent. Watching closely as he lowers himself carefully to his knees, and doesn't sit as I had anticipated, but kneels in front of me. Striking a pose of complete submission to which I have never seen before, but one I know that would have been adopted many times for the man whose memories still shadowed us, when both his hands no longer needed to steady himself are placed on top of his head. Fingers laced together to secure the position.

I swallow hard at the sight before me, my mouth going suddenly dry though I can't rightly say why. I knew, or at least suspected something similar to the exhibition I am now witnessing was a possibility when I had agreed to this, but still the cold reality of it is not like anything I ever imagined. I close my eyes, trying to settle my racing heart and the ache within it, the one between my legs now of secondary importance to me. 

Once, not so long ago, I had doubted my ability to be what Al needed. Initially horrified, I had been afraid of so much more than just failing to meet those needs; having discovered a short time after his disclosure a part of myself that terrified me, and if I were to be completely truthful, still does. It had been a part of myself that Al had forgiven I think as I open my eyes again to look at the silent man in front of me, my conscience providing me with the focus I require now. That he had understood I remind myself, as I pray one day to fully understand his need for this. 

Moistening my still dry lips I let go of my past reservations, accepting them for what they are, unwanted and unnecessary, shrouding myself with the trust bestowed to me as I carefully untangle and then rearrange my legs, tucking them under my body as I rise to my own knees behind Al. Leaning forward when I have to unlace his fingers and lower his arms, crossing them along with my own over his chest as I lick a path from shoulder to throat. Tasting as I travel the sweetness offered and receiving for my efforts a small sigh of relief. Releasing a sigh of my own, a breath I hadn't realised I was holding until that moment I free one arm to guide Al back to lean against me as I move us as one to settle on my heels. Cradling him in my arms as I whisper my intentions, hoping to fill his mind with a picture of what he can expect and heartening myself to deliver it all. 

The confines of the tub make some of what I have intended a little difficult, but by the time the water around Al and I cools considerably, the candles burning lower than before, the world around us has no meaning. Having already touched, tasted and savoured every inch of the willing body I now invade. The slick heat holding me like a hand in a glove making it impossible to think beyond the heady feeling of possession. All that exists, all that matters to me now is the man in my arms; his back pressed flush against my chest, his head resting on my shoulder and an un-ignorable yearning low in my groin. 

"I want to go on," I murmur; turning to lap at the salty trail of perspiration trickling from Al's sweat soaked hair down the side of his neck. "But I don't think I can last much longer." I explain between pauses for breath, angling his head a little as I work my way up to his mouth, encountering lips that are dry from exertion and that part to welcome me. "Can you help me?"

Al's answer, although no more than a whimper, is as clear as his request for this had been. "Yes."

It is only Al's stamina and my wish to give him everything he has asked for that has kept us going for as long as we have. My endurance is slowly approaching its limits while my own need for release steadily increases with each moment that passes and I am finding it harder and harder to hold back. I have to come and it has to be soon.

Slowly and using what remains of my energy to do so I shift our combined weight, lifting Al until I have returned him to his original position and then guide his hands to grip the edge of the bath in front of him, before releasing him. I sit back a little then, making certain not to lose the connection between us. Running my hands down his back and over the smooth curves of his ass, marvelling at the sight of him, his head bowed once more in anticipation, feeling each shudder of expectation as I my hand travels slowly to the place where our bodies are joined. 

It is perhaps the most satisfying of all feelings, to know that my hands have provided such reactions, giving as I hoped too, and the release that only we share. The thought of it, so close now that I can almost taste it, demands that within mere seconds of the realisation, that I must close eyes against the display before me and use my wandering hand to forestall my completion lest I finish sooner than either Al or I desire.

I arch my back, schooling my eyes to a point on the ceiling above us, steadying my body and willing its compliance just a little while longer as I use my free hand to grip one of Al’s hips. It is no use of course. Having put off this moment for so long, there is nothing I can do to stop it now. 

The sensation of radiance surrounds me, filling me as I fill the willing body taking the force and weight of my own as I move my hand and take a firm hold of Al's other hip. His groans absorbing mine as the last of the world shatters around us. Bringing us together to a place where there is not two, but one heart beating in a moment of pure light. The final merging, I realise with the one that is not the better half, but who shares my soul.

Gradually, as it must, awareness of the world that I know still exist but am not quite readying to re-join, coupled with tired and sore muscles ends the moment. Al is sobbing under my hands, his body; still a part of my own, shaking uncontrollably. I move then, understanding, though loathing the necessity to disengage us, to calm and comfort him, expecting as is often the case to feel the loss of connection as our bodies separate. But perhaps it is because I am too occupied dealing with limbs that are much less cooperative than Al to notice that I feel no loss at all. And it is only after I have settled him to rest between my legs, to once more lay his head against my shoulder that I realise his rapidly beating heart has slowed and is now keeping time with my own.

There was no need to question his satisfaction, nor do I think wistfully as I run my fingers through the sweat soaked curls clinging to his brow, kissing Al anywhere I could reach without further exerting myself, will there ever be need to do so again. His contentment was as evident, and as undeniable I thought, as the peace that surrounded us both now.

Though I wondered, closing my eyes for moment to rest before I knew the cold water and the need for sleep would make it necessary that we rise to dry ourselves and make our way to our bed; just who had given, and who had taken?

The End


End file.
